diff --git a/.githooks/post-checkout b/.githooks/post-checkout
index ae7afdc8..8c960f74 100755
--- a/.githooks/post-checkout
+++ b/.githooks/post-checkout
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # pql: source .pql/hooks/post-checkout (rebuild pql.db on branch checkout).
-# Guard on existence so a fresh `git worktree add` — whose toplevel has no
-# .pql/hooks yet — doesn't abort the checkout (the hook is best-effort).
+# The pql hook is untracked (a local `pql init` install), so a fresh
+# `git worktree add` has no .pql/hooks — source it only when present, and
+# always exit 0: post-checkout is best-effort and must never abort the
+# checkout / worktree creation.
 hook="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.pql/hooks/post-checkout"
-[ -f "$hook" ] && . "$hook"
+if [ -f "$hook" ]; then . "$hook"; fi
+exit 0